 His father Charles Ingham Black was the curate of Burley, and his grandfather the Irish pirate or smuggler John Black ("Black Jack"), who built Elsinore Lodge at Rosses Point, Sligo.Black was appointed assistant editor of "The Phoenix" 1897–99 before taking up a similar position with "The Morning Herald" in London.In 1901 he became assistant editor of "The Echo", joint editor of "Today" 1904–05 and was a special writer on the "Weekly Dispatch" between 1905 and 1911.